Disney World’s 50th anniversary celebrations starts October 2021 and lasts until March 2023.  I always enjoyed visiting Disney theme parks and have been to both theme parks at Disneyland in Anaheim in 2015 and Tokyo DisneySea back in 2016.  I really wanted to visit during this special 50th anniversary celebration that a friend and I visited Disney World mid November 2021.

I know some people may suggest spending about a week or so at Disney World to really experience the full magic, but my friend and I only got 4 days for the trip.  We both wanted to visit all 4 parks in the 4 days we had.  With restrictions starting to ease, here is a recap of our exciting visit to the most magical place on Earth.

Hotel

We stayed at Pop Century Resort, which is one of Disney’s value resorts.  I do not mind staying at a lower class hotel, since we don’t really spend much time in our rooms.  I made sure we got a bathroom that has a roll in shower and our room has 1 Queen bed and 1 Murphy bed that folds down.

Costing just over $200 USD per night plus taxes and fees, it’s definitely worth it as we still get all the perks of being a resort guest.  These includes 30 minute early access to the parks, free transportation within Disney World and access to the new Skyliner.

Disability Access Services (DAS)

Disability Access Services (DAS) is a program that assists guests who have difficulty tolerating extended waits in a conventional queue due to a disability.  I highly recommend getting this if you can qualify.  This helped us save a lot of time and made it easier for us to enjoy our day.

Read my previous article for more details.  Tip: this could actually be done online in advance to save time from doing it at the theme park and waiting in line.

Day 1: Arrival and Epcot

After our early check in at Pop Century Resort and exploring the area a bit, we took the Skyliner and headed to our first theme park: Epcot(click link to read full details of our visit).  We did not get a chance to spend the whole day here but still managed to squeeze in 7 hours of fun.

We got to visit the very popular annual 4 month long Epcot International Food & Wine Festival and sampled some foods from different countries.  The we went to some attractions and rides like: Disney & Pixar Short Film Festival, Journey into Imagination with Figment, Living with the Land, Awesome Planet, The Seas with Nemo & Friends, Turtle Talk with Crush.

We then finished the night watching the spectacular Harmonious show.  We definitely enjoyed our first day at Disney and thought the Living with the Land ride was my favorite of the day.  It was wheelchair accessible and was a relaxing and educational ride.

Day 2: Magic Kingdom

Magic Kingdom is the original and the most visited iconic park at Disney World and we were pretty excited to go.  We did not take advantage of the extra 30 minute early entry to any of the parks, but still managed to enjoy around 8 hours for our visit.

After arriving on our free shuttle bus, we first took pictures in front of the 50th anniversary Cinderella castle.  Some of the main attractions that we did were: Monster’s Inc Laugh Floor, Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, Under the Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid, Prince Charming Regal Carrousel, and “it’s a small world”.

We ate a great but expensive buffet at the Crystal Palace and then finished the night watching the Disney Enchantment fireworks show which was another top not production by Disney.  My favorite ride of our day was probably the “it’s a small world” ride because it was fully wheelchair accessible and was an easy and casual ride.

Day 3: Animal Kingdom and Disney Springs

Animal Kingdom does open and close earlier than the other theme parks at Disney World and my friend and I still managed to spend 8 hours.  It was great to see some live animals and this park and it was somewhat like a mini zoo.  We then went to take a few pictures in front of The Tree of Life.

Some of the main attractions that we did were: Na’vi River Journey, “It’s Tough to be a Bug!”, A Celebration of Festival of the Lion King, TricerTop Spin and Tree of Life Awakenings.  The Lion King show was my favorite of the day and was glad to see live theater performances return after the pandemic.  Our meal at the jungle themed Rainforest Cafe was also a fun experience with great food.

Since Animal King closed at 7, we left a bit earlier to catch the free shuttle to Disney Springs.  This was our only chance to visit this outdoor shopping, dining, and entertainment complex at Disney World.  We still got to check out some of the shops and ate a few snacks in the few hours that we were there.

Day 4: Hollywood Studios

On our last day, we took the Skyliner to visit Hollywood Studios.  My friend and I are huge fans of the Star Wars franchise and couldn’t wait to visit the recently opened Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge land inside this last theme park. Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance really did live up to it’s high expectations and even thought my friend had to transfer me in, it was worth going.

We spent over 10 hours at Hollywood Studios and managed to also do these attractions: Star Tours – The Adventure continues, A Frozen Sing-Along Celebration, Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway, Beauty and the Beast – Live on Stage, Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy, Muppet*Vision 3D and the Wonderful World of Animation.

I would have to say Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance and Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway were my favorite rides of not only Hollywood Studios but in all of Disney World.  It really was awesome to do both these rides on our last day at Disney World.

Leaving

We had an early flight Friday morning and since we used the FREE Magical Express Shuttle, it was scheduled in advance that we would arrive at the airport really early.  (read about it in detail here).  This free service has now been replaced with a paid service which can be quite costly now.  I go into detail about each park I visited so please look through my website.

Upcoming Disney Trips

I had such an amazing time visiting ALL 4 theme parks at Disney World that I had to visit more for 2022.  Later this month I will be back in Anaheim for the first time since 2015.  It has been 7 years since I visited both parks at Disneyland and am excited to see all the changes at both parks that has taken place since then.  These include Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge and Avengers Campus.

My recent experience at Disney World’s 50th anniversary celebrations have been so memorable that I want to visit Disneyland Paris for their 30th anniversary celebrations this summer.  I plan on going to at least one of the 2 theme parks depending on time: Disneyland Park and/or Walt Disney Studios Park.  Hopefully Paris’ new version of Avengers Campus will open when we are there.

Even though none of the Disney Parks are fully wheelchair accessible, I still have a great time visiting them to see some of the shows and going on some of the rides.  Follow my Facebook and/or Instagram to follow along and check out my full accessibility review once I get back.